Ventilating-fan.



1. NEWCOME, VENTILATING FAN.

, APPLICATION FILED-MAR. I,

Patented June 6, 1916.

m 0 1 we n M 3 A. N J. m .2

nu: COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co., \vasnma'rou. D. c.

T. J. NEWCOME.

VENTILATING FAN. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 1, 1.915.

1 186 427. Patented June 6, 1916. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

whim-cones UNITED, STATES PATENT onruon.

THOMAS J. NEWCOME, 0F HASTIN GS, PENNSYLVANIA.

VENTILATING-FAN.

Application filed Mar-ch 1, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS J. NEWCOME, a citizen of the United States,residing at Hastings, in the county of Cambria, State of Pennsylvania,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ventilating- Fans;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to ventilating fans designed especially for usein connection with the ventilation of mines, although I wish it to beunderstood that it is not limited in its useful application to thisparticular purpose, but may be employed 1n any connection where it maybe deemed advantageous.

In the present instance it is mypurpose to provide a fan of the blowertype, which under certain conditions may be operated as a suction fan,as when it is desiredto withdraw foul air and gas from the mine, and.which when desired may be quickly converted into a pressure fan as whenit is desired to force or pump'fresh air into the mine.

Still a further object of my invention is the provision of a fanequipped with radial, bodily shiftable arms carrying pivoted vanesorblades, and mechanism for shifting the arms during the operation ofthe fan so that each set of vanes or blades, as it passes the air intakeor inlet will be closed to form a substantially continuous or solid wingwhich takes the air from the inlet and forces it toward the outlet, thevanes of each set gradually opening or feathering as they recede fromthe inlet and approach the outlet so that when the latter is reached thevanes or blades of the set are spaced apart, and instead of hinderingthe escape of-air, assist in discharging such air.

Another object of the invention. is-the. provision of deflector plateswhich may be. adjusted to one position to direct the current of air whenthe fan is in use as a suction fan, and may-be adjusted to anotherposition to direct the current of-air when the fan is operating as apressure blower.

It is also my purposeto provide a fanof this type which will operate atmaximum efficiency with. a minimum expenditure of power. and which willembody the desired features, of simplicity and durability, and

Specification of Letters Patent.

Serial No. 11,235.

Patented June 6, 1916.

may be manufactured and marketed at a' Y relatively low cost.

With the above recited objects and others of a similar nature inview,'my invention consists in the construction, combination andarrangement of parts set forth in and View of the rack and gearmechanism for reversing or changing the direction of action of the fan,and illustrating the cam groove formed in the inner face of the diskcarrying the circular rack. Fig. 6 is a detail view of a portion of thefan and-showfanisused as a pressure blower. I w1ll first describemyinvention when it is arranged to be employed as a suction .ing theposition of certain parts when the- I l blower, aswhen'for instance, itis desired ii to draw foul air from a mine, and in the accompanyingdrawings Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive show the parts as they are when the fanis so operated, while in'Fig; 6 certain'parts are shown in the positionthey occupy when the fan is to be employed, for instance, in forcing airinto the mine.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, the supportingstandards 1 are provided at their upper ends with bearings 2 for thepower shaft 3, which may be driven from any suitable engine. Keyed onthis shaft are the end hubs land 5 and the intermediate hub 6. Circularend plates 7 and 8 are carried by the hubs 4 and f- 5, and these platesalso form movable side walls for the casing, as will hereafter appear.An intermediate or partition plate 9, also circular in form, is carriedbythe hub 6.

y The letter A indicates a sheet of metal i lar. discharge. duct Dthrough which the air is discharged from the fan. The opposite endsection 12 ofthe metal sheet A forms the top wall of the air inlet pipeI. A'simi-.

lar piece 'ofsheet metal B is curved inter-v mediate lengtlito form thebottom wall 13 of the fan casing with one end of the sheet bent downwardat an angle as at 13 to form the bottom wall of the air discharge ductD, while the opposite end of the sheetB is extended as at 14 to form thebottomsection of the inlet pipe I. The longitudinal side edges of thecurved sections 10 and 13, which as stated formthe top and bottom wallsof the casing, are bent to provide the flanges 15 which. overlie theadjacent peripheral portions of the circular side plates 7 and 8. Siderings 16 bolted to the flanges complete the casing.

It will be seen that the central partition 9 divides the fan into twochambers E and F. Surrounding the portion of the shaft 3 extendingthrough the chamber E is a drum 17, while a similar drum 18 is likewiselocated in the chamber F. Each of these drums has rigid therewith andextending from the periphery thereof a series of blades or wings 19, thewings of one drum being in staggered relation to the wings of the otherdrum. Within the chamber E is a series of sets of radially disposedindependent vanes, each set being indicated as an entirety by the letterG. In the present in stance each set of vanes is made up of threeindependent vanes shown at 20, 21 and 22 arranged edge to edge andadapted when closed to form a wing which will extend from the wings 19to the wall of the casing. The three vanes 20, 21. and 22 vary in size,the outer vane 20 being narrower than the intermediate vane 21, whilethe latter in turn is narrower than the inner vane 22. These vanes areprovided with pivot studs 23 and 2 1 at their ends, the studs 24 socketing in the partition plate 9, while the studs 23 are made relativelylong and extend through the end plate 7. Likewise in the chamber F isprovided a series of sets of vanes, each set being shown at G, and eachset is composed of the three vanes 20, 21 and 22', which arecounterparts of the vanes 20. 21 and 22, but are arranged in staggeredrelation to the latter and not in transverse alinement therewith. Thesevanes 20, 21 and 22' are provided at their inner edges with pintles 2 1which are socketed in the partition plate 9, and at their outer edgeswith pintles or studs 23' which extend through the side plate 8. Thepintles or studs of the vanes which project through the circular endplates are connected with links 25 which lie against the outer faces ofthe plates, and these links are provided with longitudinal slots 26 inwhich work the pins 27 carried by the radially disposed shifting arms 28which slide through guide brackets 29 fastened to the outside of thecircular end plates 7 and 8. These arms 29 carry rollers 30 at theirinner ends, and these rollers ride in the eccentric cam grooves 31formed in the inner faces of the disks 32 loosely mounted upon the shaft3 adjacent the outer faces of the side plates 7 and 8. These disks 32 inturn are provided peripherally with the circular gear racks 33 withwhich mesh the Worm gears 34 adapted to be turned by the hand operatedshaft 35, suitable handles 36being provided for this purpose.

From thedescription thus far given, and

referring particularly to Figs. 1 to 5, it will be understood that whenthe fan is to be used as a suction fan the inlet pipe or duct I isconnected with a suitable pipe or duct leading into the mine shaft orroom from which the foul air and gases are to be drawn. As the shaft 3is rotated, the end plates 7 and. 8, as well as the intermediate plate 9will be turned, and consequently the drums 17 and 18, with theirstationary blades 19, and the pivoted vanes will also arms 28 will beshifted or moved outward and the pivoted vanes carried by the arms willbe moved to closed position so that their adjacent longitudinal. edgesalmost 7 meet, thus forming practically continuous wings. proaching andpassing the inlet I, so that the vanes in such position will pull ordrawthe air and gases through the inlet I intothe fan-and carry such air andgases around toward the funicular discharge duct D. As the arms 28approach the discharge duct, the rollers at the inner ends of the armtravel into the eccentric sections 38 of the grooves 31. and the armsare drawn inward, thus shifting the links 25 connected with the pintlesof the vanes so that these vanes will be opened, that is to say,extended transversely to the arms so that the air and gases may passthrough the spaces between the vanes when the latter are feathered, asjust mentioned. and such air and gases will be pushed or forced by thevanes through the discharge duct D to the open air, instead. of aportion of the air and gases being carried around again by the blades ofthe fan, as is usually the case. As the arms again approach the inlet Iafter passing the out let duct, they are gradually moved outward againby the action of the rollers traveling in the cam grooves and the vanesare again moved to closed position Now, under certain conditions,instead of using the fan as a suction or exhaust fan it may be desiredto quickly convert it into a pressure This occurs when the arms are ap--fan, for instance to feed'air into the mine,

and under such circumstances it may be so converted by simply graspingthe handle 36 and rotating the worm gear 34*to'tur'n the disks 32' untilthe positions of'the eccentric grooves-31' are reversed'to the positionthey occupy when the device is acting as a suction fan, that is tosay,the disks will be turned until the concentric sections -31 thereof aremoved to the outlet side D of the fan and the eccentric sections 38facethe duct I. Under such conditions when the fan isrotated, the air willbe drawn in through the funicular duct D and discharged through theductI.

In order to properly directnthe air passing through the duct I, Iprovide top and bottom deflector or baflle plates 40 and 41 hinged as at42 and 43 respectively. The pintles 44 and 45 of the respectivedeflector plates extend through the wall of the pipe I, and are providedwith weighted arms 46 and 47 respectively. Now, when the fan is used asa suction fan, the weighted arms 46 and 47 are manually shifted orturned so that the plate 40 will be brought against the top wall of thepipe I, while the plate 41 will be moved against the pin 48. Thus theair coming into the fan casing will be properly directed to the closedvanes and will not be pocketed at the entrance to the casing. When thefan, however, is used as a pressure fan, the weighted arms are swimg sothat the deflector plates occupy the positions shown in dotted lines inFig. 2, that is to say, the plate 40 will rest upon the pin 49, whilethe plate 41 will lie back against the bottom wall section 14. Undersuch conditions the air may be forced unimpeded from the fan through thepipe I.

From the above description, taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, it will be seen that I have provided a fan wherein theindividual pivoted blades are feathered or turned at desired times toassist in forcing the air from the fan casing, so that no portion of theair will be carried around in the casing past the outlet through whichit is supposed to be discharged. Furthermore, it will be noted that whendesired the fan may be converted from a suction fan into a pressure fanor vice versa without the loss of time.

\Vhile I have herein shown and described one particular embodiment of myinvention, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself toall the precise details of construction herein set forth by way ofillustration, as modification and variation may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention or exceeding the scope of theappended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a fan of the class described, the combination with a casingincluding rotating side walls, of a plurality of sets of pivingsidewalls, of a plurality of sets of pivoted vanes mounted between thesidewalls and adapted to travel withthe said walls, an air inlet ductleading to the casing, an

air outlet duct leading from the casing, means operable to move thevanes on their pivots to close the sameas, they. pass the air inlet ductand to open said vanes as they pass the outlet duct, said meansincluding a series of radially movable arms connected with the vanes,and eccentric devices for shifting said arms radially.

'3. In a fan of the class described, the combination with a casingincluding rotating side walls, of a partition wall located between theside walls, a plurality of sets of vanes pivoted at their outer ends inthe side walls and at their inner ends in the partition wall, an inletduct for the fan, an outlet duct for said fan, a radially movable armfor each set of vanes, a link connection between each vane and theadjacent radially movable arm, a laterally extending member at the innerend of each arm, and normally stationary members provided with eccentricgrooves in which the lateral members at the ends of the arms are adaptedto travel to move said arms radially to open and close the sets ofvanes.

4. In a fan of the class described, the combination with a casingincluding rotating side walls, of an intermediate partition wall, setsof vanes pivotally mounted between the end walls and the partitionwalls, an inlet duct and an outlet duct for the fan, mechanism formoving the vanes on their pivots to close the vanes as they pass theinlet duct and open said vanes as they pass the outlet duct, drumsdisposed centrally of the fan between the end walls of the partitionwall, and stationary blades carried by the drums.

5. In a fan of the class described, the combination with a casingincluding rotating side walls, an airinlet duct and an air outlet duct,a plurality of sets of pivoted vanes adapted to travel with the rotatingside walls, means for opening and closing the vanes and mechanism foradjusting the position of the opening and closing means to vary. thepoints at which the vanes will open and close.

6. In a fan of the class described, the combination with a power shaft,of rotatof the shaft the arms will be moved radially to open and closethe vanes, a toothed rack carried by the disk, and a gear meshing withthe rack and adapted to be manually operated to change the position ofthe disk Copies of this patent may be obtained tor five cents each, byadflrcssing the Commissioner Washington, D. 0..

the vanes the current of air passing through said air;

duct.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature, in the presence of twowitnesses.

THOMAS J NEVVCOME. Witnesses:

RICHARD B. GAVANAUGH. P. J, MAOCARTER.

or Eaten-n.

